Day 3: Great Falls to Banff, Alberta (Canada) via Glacier National Park (568 miles)

The fun filled 619 miles of the previous day left us exhausted and morning came way too soon. We went down to fetch clothes from the car to change into and proceeded to get checked out of the hotel so we could get on the road. We loaded up the car and as I opened the driver's side door, I noticed something suspicious peeking out from the corner of the left front bumper. "That cannot be what I think it is," I thought to myself. "Holy &%$#, Vanessa. You are not going to believe this." A dead bird was stuck in the grill. Needless to say, before we got on the road, we headed straight to the car wash. The attendant was kind enough to remove it for us, along with all the bug juice from the previous evening's adventures.

Once the Macan had her bath, we set off for Banff. The first part of the drive was rather uneventful. The landscape was completely flat, with golden wheat fields that went off into eternity. It was like looking out at the ocean. After what seemed like forever, suddenly snow capped mountain peaks appeared on the horizon. If you have never seen the mountains in Glacier, it is impossible to relate how absolutely, overwhelmingly massive they are. The scale of them literally takes your breath away. The tree-line -- where the oxygen suddenly becomes too thin for grass to grow -- is very evidently visible and the pine trees that line the lower half of the mountains are so dwarfed that they look more like blades of grass than 30-50' trees.

Entering Glacier National Park from the west gate, you drive alongside Lake McDonald on the narrow, 2-lane Going to the Sun Road. The lake is known for its bottom, which is speckled in multi-colored stones. We got shin-deep in our Teva sandals. The water was cold, but not too cold. Vanessa said it was the prettiest lake she had ever seen, and I concur. We took a ton of pictures and then climbed back into the car to continue along our route. It twisted and turned through the pine tree forest along the lake.

Once we were past the lake, it started to follow a little river that fed the lake as the road ascended. The water was crystal clear, and varied in the most vibrant shades of blue, green and turquoise. We eagerly pulled over to the side of the road to investigate and to spend a few awe filled moments next to a small waterfall.

Then our ascent began in earnest. The narrow little road went from gentle s-curves to considerably scarier hairpin curves. One side was pressed against the rock wall of the mountain, while the other side had a mediocre barricade that stood between your car and a sheer drop to the bottom of the valley. The highest point of the pass is 6646 feet. Vanessa is very afraid of heights and there were times she refused to get out of the car for photo ops!

However, towards the end, there was a large parking area and she was excited to get out and pose next to the snow.

As beautiful as the park was, we were relieved the white-knuckled drive was over and we were happy that our journey was leading us on into Alberta, Canada. This was Vanessa's first time visiting our neighbors to the north and she was super excited. The first couple of hours inside the province was a little boring. It is very flat (like the area outside of Great Falls) and covered in vast fields of green grass with bright yellow flowers contrasted against a brilliant blue sky. An extremely monotonous 2-lane road turned into a highway. Thank goodness for cruise control! The landscape was so mesmerizing that you do not realize how fast you are going.

As we inched our way closer to Calgary, trees began to reappear and the flat fields turned into rolling hills. As the middle of nowhere slowly turned into an actual city, smoke from wild fires in the area began to cloud the sky and filter the sun; the unmistakable stink of fire filled the air. Although they were far away from where we were, it was a subtle reminder of the power of mother nature, the magnitude of the devastation and a reminder of the fires I, myself, have been through in San Diego twice. There is nothing scarier than that.

From Calgary we forged on to Banff, which is a stereotypical ski resort town. It was touristy, but quaint at the same time. Our hotel had a log-cabin feel to it and, as Vanessa told my sister: "The best part is in the basement." There was an indoor heated pool that was more or less a giant hot tub without the jets. But it was constructed to look like a cave, complete with rock formations. And there was a big hole in the ceiling that you could look up through at the sky. I cannot imagine how awesome that would be in the winter!

After getting settled in our room, we crashed.